Time flies with six Standard sets a year, and now that Edge of Eternities is here, we can dive into our usual guide to the Limited archetypes!
We'll take a look at the ten color pairs in this new set, highlighting their mechanics and strategy, their key cards, and those that best fit the archetype. We'll also delve into some "combos" that will help you nail down the color pair's game plan and that you might be able to replicate at your events, as they only require commons and uncommons!
Edge of Eternities is set in space, beyond the borders of the Multiverse, and it's characterized by four new mechanics, which I have already told you about in a previous article and which we will resume in the analysis of the archetypes. They are Station, Lander, Warp, and Void.
As for the signposts, the most representative cards that explain the guild's strategy, we find here only a single signpost uncommon and not two as we were used to, which could perhaps have its positive side in the draft phase, leaving you more open in the early picks (although the Lander tokens make the splash of a third color particularly feasible).
Azorius: Second Spell
Cards:
Illvoi Galeblade, Atomic Microsizer, Squire's Lightblade, Honor, Nutrient Block, Mechan Navigator, Sunstar Expansionist, Illvoi Operative, Desculpting Blast, Mental Modulation, Uthros Psionicist, Illvoi Infiltrator, Codecracker Hound, Sinister Cryologist, Brightspear Zealot, Exosuit Savior, All-Fates Stalker, Sunstar Lightsmith, Knight Luminary, Uthros Scanship, Starfield Shepherd, Gigastorm Titan, Starbreach Whale, Mechanozoa, Weftblade Enhancer, Bygone Colossus.
Description:
White-blue is faster than we're used to this time around because it cares about casting your second spell in a turn, and to do so, it's interested in cheap spells and cards with warp.
Station Monitor is its signpost and one of the best payoffs for this strategy, adding a 1/1 flying token to your board potentially every turn, almost recalling Bitterblossom, allowing you to overwhelm your opponent through the sky.
Uthros Psionicist and Sunstar Lightsmith are two other key pieces, respectively capable of further discounting your second spell and never letting you run out of gas!
Combo:
- All-Fates Stalker + Bygone Colossus = Cheat with warp! For 5 mana, you can cast the warped versions of both Bygone Colossus and All-Fates Stalker and use the latter's triggered ability to exile the Robot Giant. When it leaves the battlefield at the end of your turn, Bygone Colossus returns, this time permanently, giving you a 9/9 for just 5 mana! Alternatively, other great warp pieces include Starfield Shepherd, Starbreach Whale, and Mechanozoa.
- Cryoshatter / Radiant Strike + Starport Security / Mental Modulation / Mechanozoa = The two Azorius removal spells are at their best when the permanent is tapped, and you can force that by using tap effects yourself, perhaps at the end of your opponent's turn!
- Luxknight Breacher + Atomic Microsizer = The Knight can grow huge, but it's not evasive. Atomic Microsizer can affect both the defender, making an enemy creature 1/1, and the attacker, making it unblockable. Unfortunately, it also turns the latter into a 1/1, which isn't a problem for Luxknight Breacher, as all its power is stored in its +1/+1 counters!
Dimir: Artifact Control
Cards:
Monoist Sentry, Hullcarver, Embrace Oblivion, Steelswarm Operator, Mechan Navigator, Mechan Shieldmate, Virus Beetle, Wurmwall Sweeper, Cryogen Relic, Desculpting Blast, Divert Disaster, Codecracker Hound, Cloudsculpt Technician, Nanoform Sentinel, Dubious Delicacy, Unravel, Selfcraft Mechan, Gravblade Heavy, Uthros Scanship, Scour for Scrap, Tractor Beam, Mechan Assembler, Susurian Dirgecraft, Cerebral Download, Monoist Circuit-Feeder, Mechanozoa, Specimen Freighter.
Description:
Blue-black is a grindy control deck that aims to outvalue your opponent in the late game through removal, card drawing, bigger spells, and 2-for-1s in general. This is enhanced by synergies with artifacts that improve the stats and abilities of creatures, as well as the effects of spells.
This type of value is well represented by Alpharael, Dreaming Acolyte, who gives you card advantage if you discard an artifact, while other payoffs are boosted based on the number of artifacts you control, such as Cerebral Download, which lets you select cards, and Monoist Circuit-Feeder, which boosts one of your pieces and takes away one of your opponent's!
Combo:
- Mechan Navigator / Alpharael, Dreaming Acolyte / Uthros Scanship + Timeline Culler / Scour for Scrap = Gain value by taking advantage of the draw-discard of Dimir cards! Timeline Culler, for example, can be recast directly from the graveyard, while a discarded artifact can be brought back with Scour for Scrap, which will make 2-for-1!
- Monoist Sentry + Wurmwall Sweeper / Fell Gravship / Uthros Scanship = Not a combo, but a spotlight on Monoist Sentry, a 1-mana drop never seen before with such stats and which is in this set for good reason... put a lot of counters on Spacecraft! A single activation is enough to animate Wurmwall Sweeper, while only two are needed for Fell Gravship and Uthros Scanship. You can then add Hylderblade to it to overcharge any Spacecraft!
- Sinister Cryologist + Depressurize = Depressurize can only destroy small creatures, with power up to 3. Combine it with Sinister Cryologist to push that threshold to 6 and take down even the largest creatures for only 3 total mana!
Rakdos: Void
Cards:
Slagdrill Scrapper, Kavaron Harrier, Hylderblade, Plasma Bolt, Tragic Trajectory, Umbral Collar Zealot, Lightless Evangel, Timeline Culler, Virus Beetle, Beamsaw Prospector, Hymn of the Faller, Melded Moxite, Susurian Voidborn, Insatiable Skittermaw, Comet Crawler, Temporal Intervention, Decode Transmissions, Systems Override, Roving Actuator, Memorial Team Leader, Red Tiger Mechan, Swarm Culler, Voidforged Titan, Perigee Beckoner, Kavaron Skywarden, Susurian Dirgecraft.
Description:
Black-red is an aggressive deck that focuses on void, a condition that occurs when any creature dies in combat or leaves the battlefield due to removal, but also when a spell is warped and a Lander token is sacrificed.
Interceptor Mechan lets you retrieve a creature or artifact from your graveyard that you may have previously had to let go of to enable void, then powering up at the end of each of your turns if it was active.
Roving Actuator and Voidforged Titan are two more value engines for the void mechanic, allowing you to recast a spell from the graveyard and draw extra cards, respectively.
Combo:
- Systems Override + Umbral Collar Zealot / Swarm Culler / Slagdrill Scrapper = Classic Rakdos Combo! Steal an enemy creature or artifact, attack if you can, and instead of returning it at the end of the turn, sacrifice it for value!
- Roving Actuator + Hymn of the Faller / Depressurize / Invasive Maneuvers / Plasma Bolt = Your Snapcaster Mage at home! Devoid active on the turn could turn Roving Actuator into a serious threat, with a good body and either a removal or card draw effect when it enters!
- Kavaron Harrier + Lightless Evangel / Interceptor Mechan / Voidforged Titan = Kavaron Harrier creates a 2/2 Robot attacking that sacrifices itself at the end of combat and not at the end of the turn. This triggers sacrifice instances, but more importantly, enables end-of-turn void triggers.
Gruul: Landers and Landfall
Cards:
Edge Rover, Slagdrill Scrapper, Gene Pollinator, Hemosymbic Mite, Sami's Curiosity, Full Bore, Terrapact Intimidator, Remnant Elemental, Eumidian Terrabotanist, Broodguard Elite, Zookeeper Mechan, Molecular Modifier, Dauntless Scrapbot, Galactic Wayfarer, Kavaron Turbodrone, Larval Scoutlander, Lithobraking, Seedship Agrarian, Icecave Crasher, Kav Landseeker, Orbital Plunge, Eusocial Engineering, Harmonious Grovestrider, Kavaron Skywarden, Territorial Bruntar, Glacier Godmaw, Nebula Dragon.
Description:
Red-green is the classic aggressive deck that aims to curve out with increasingly bigger creatures, but here it is characterized by the landfall mechanic and the Lander tokens that enhance it.
Tannuk, Memorial Ensign, in addition to direct damage, draws a card if you put two lands under your control in a turn, perfect with Lander tokens that ramp a land directly onto the battlefield.
This, in addition to allowing you to splash potentially strong cards of other colors, allows you to play big creatures ahead of schedule, such as Territorial Bruntar, which is huge and continues to value excess lands and extra Lander tokens.
Combo:
- Tannuk, Memorial Ensign + Seedship Agrarian = Seedship Agrarian can potentially create a Lander token per turn simply by attacking or tapping for Station, and this can be transformed into the second land of the turn and then into a draw thanks to the landfall ability of Tannuk, Memorial Ensign!
- Kav Landseeker + Meltstrider's Resolve = At 4 power, Kav Landseeker is already a good fighter and therefore worthy of being enchanted by the Aura, but that's not all! The combination of menace (can't be blocked except by two or more creatures) and "can't be blocked by more than one creature" creates a condition that effectively makes the creature unblockable! The opponent better have a removal spell, or they won't be around much longer!
- Kavaron Turbodrone / Full Bore + Germinating Wurm / Bygone Colossus = Use warped creatures as surprise attackers, buffing them, but most importantly giving them haste!
Selesnya: +1/+1 Counters
Cards:
Hemosymbic Mite, Gene Pollinator, Starport Security, Honor, Pulsar Squadron Ace, Sunstar Expansionist, Dockworker Drone, Broodguard Elite, Intrepid Tenderfoot, Dual-Sun Technique, Biosynthic Burst, Meltstrider Eulogist, Rayblade Trooper, Dual-Sun Adepts, Exosuit Savior, Scout for Survivors, All-Fates Stalker, Sunstar Lightsmith, Drix Fatemaker, Luxknight Breacher, Atmospheric Greenhouse, Dawnstrike Vanguard, Weftblade Enhancer, Rescue Skiff.
Description:
White-green is a go-wide aggro deck that synergizes with +1/+1 counters, bolstering the entire army and giving it extra bonuses.
Haliya, Ascendant Cadet leads the strategy, buffing herself or a teammate upon entry and each attack, thus also increasing the chances of drawing an additional card per turn.
Meltstrider Eulogist and Rayblade Trooper are two other good payoffs that instead work when a creature with a +1/+1 counter dies, drawing cards and adding creature tokens to the board so as to keep the pressure high!
Combo:
- Dual-Sun Technique + Honor / Rayblade Trooper / Drix Fatemaker = In addition to a powerful bonus, Dual-Sun Technique draws a card when paired with a +1/+1 counter, and Selesnya is the perfect home to make the most of it. With Drix Fatemaker, you even get the double strike and trample combo!
- Starfield Shepherd + Gene Pollinator + Hemosymbic Mite = Starfield Shepherd could become a one-card combo here! Cast it with warp and tutor Gene Pollinator from your deck. Ramp by casting the Angel from exile on turn 4, and take Hemosymbic Mite. Now you can exploit the Gene Pollinator and Hemosymbic Mite combo, tapping at instant speed and taking advantage of the buff in combat! Additionally, you can also use Meltstrider's Gear or +1/+1 counters, like those of Broodguard Elite, to further grow the Mite.
- Scout for Survivors + Hemosymbic Mite / Dockworker Drone = Scout for Survivors reanimates adding +1/+1 counters, and these are particularly useful both on Hemosymbic Mite, giving greater buffs, and on Dockworker Drone, transmitting them after its death.
Orzhov: Go Wide
Cards:
Hullcarver, Focus Fire, Embrace Oblivion, Honored Knight-Captain, Lightless Evangel, Umbral Collar Zealot, Timeline Culler, Beamsaw Prospector, Virus Beetle, Dockworker Drone, Dual-Sun Adepts, Susurian Voidborn, Faller's Faithful, Susurian Voidborn, Exosuit Savior, Comet Crawler, Gravpack Monoist, Scout for Survivors, Zealous Display, All-Fates Stalker, Knight Luminary, Luxknight Breacher, Vote Out, Starfield Shepherd, Auxiliary Boosters, Dawnstrike Vanguard.
Description:
Similar to Selesnya, white-black is another go-wide aggro deck, with white tending to board up and pump up your army, and black having a sacrifice subtheme, improving creature stats and triggering their abilities when something is sacrificed or dies.
Syr Vondam, the Lucent is the ideal captain for your team because he enhances the latter's stats and makes it harder to block, similar to how Dual-Sun Adepts operate.
Don't worry about mourning those who fell in battle, for Susurian Voidborn stands ready to honor them and transform their sacrifice into further steps towards victory!
Combo:
- Embrace Oblivion + Timeline Culler / Virus Beetle / Beamsaw Prospector = Sacrifice value! Embrace Oblivion is super cheap and theoretically a 2-for-1 for your opponent, but you can get around this by choosing to sacrifice creatures you can recast or that have already shown value.
- Dual-Sun Adepts + Hylderblade = Attach Hylderblade to Dual-Sun Adepts for free thanks to the void mechanic, and turn it into an amazing 5/3 double strike that can further power up with 5 mana!
- Exosuit Savior + Virus Beetle / Dubious Delicacy = It's Orzhov Pixie time! You can do the same combos you do/used to do in Standard, but at a higher cost! Exosuit Savior is a 3-mana Nurturing Pixie, which, just like the Faerie, can return a 3-mana Nowhere to Run, Dubious Delicacy, or a 2-mana Hopeless Nightmare, Virus Beetle!
Izzet: Artifact Aggro
Cards:
Slagdrill Scrapper, Kavaron Harrier, Illvoi Galeblade, Atomic Microsizer, Steelswarm Operator, Mechan Navigator, Oreplate Pangolin, Zookeeper Mechan, Mechan Shieldmate, Cryogen Relic, Illvoi Light Jammer, Melded Moxite, Desculpting Blast, Weftstalker Ardent, Virulent Silencer, Nanoform Sentinel, Cloudsculpt Technician, Kavaron Turbodrone, Roving Actuator, Red Tiger Mechan, Selfcraft Mechan, Uthros Scanship, Scour for Scrap, Mechan Assembler, Debris Field Crusher, Mechanozoa, Galvanizing Sawship.
Description:
Blue-red also cares about artifacts like Dimir but from a much more aggro point of view, focusing more on the number of artifacts and their synergies.
An example of this is Mm'menon, Uthros Exile, which grows with each artifact you control and can directly hit your opponent thanks to flying.
Oreplate Pangolin also gets bigger this way, but at the cost of 1 mana spent for each artifact, and to ensure that artifacts are always in abundance, Mechan Assembler takes care of it, adding up to a 2/2 Robot per turn to further strengthen them!
Combo:
- Steelswarm Operator + Kavaron Harrier / Slagdrill Scrapper / Oreplate Pangolin / Cryogen Relic / any equipment or Lander token = Steelswarm Operator, in addition to accelerating the casting of artifacts, gives you 2 mana to activate artifact abilities, which, with the right payoffs, can be exploited every turn and make them much lighter.
- Selfcraft Mechan / Slagdrill Scrapper + Cryogen Relic / Nutrient Block = Use Slagdrill Scrapper or Selfcraft Mechan to sacrifice the appropriate artifacts, and draw two cards instead of one!
- Mechan Navigator / Nanoform Sentinel + any Spacecraft = These two artifacts were specifically designed to work with Spacecraft. Mechan Navigator draws and discards when tapping to Station, while Nanoform Sentinel untaps another piece, giving the Spacecraft an extra spin!
Golgari: Graveyard
Cards:
Monoist Sentry, Hullcarver, Hemosymbic Mite, Gene Pollinator, Umbral Collar Zealot, Timeline Culler, Blooming Stinger, Beamsaw Prospector, Virus Beetle, Thawbringer, Skystinger, Comet Crawler, Gravpack Monoist, Scrounge for Eternity, Fell Gravship, Shattered Wings, Tapestry Warden, Blade of the Swarm, Swarm Culler, Perigee Beckoner, Germinating Wurm, Pull Through the Weft, Susurian Dirgecraft, Lashwhip Predator, Pinnacle Kill-Ship, Bygone Colossus.
Description:
Black-green is a midrange value deck that takes advantage of the graveyard and uses it as a resource. It first fills it with mill, surveil, and sacrifice effects, and then makes the most of it, recovering pieces and reanimating creatures and Spacecraft!
Seedship Broodtender is the perfect mix of the two strategies, first milling cards and then reanimating what it finds, as is Scrounge for Eternity, which can put a piece onto the battlefield ahead of schedule. Then, when you can't put a permanent directly onto the battlefield, you can always put it into your hand and get value, just like with Pull Through the Weft and Fell Gravship.
Combo:
- Hullcarver / Blooming Stinger / Gravblade Heavy + Meltstrider's Resolve / Close Encounter / Diplomatic Relations = Classic Golgari Combo! The combination of fight or bite spells combined with a creature with deathtouch can knock down any creature, regardless of its size!
- Gene Pollinator + Seedship Agrarian = Tap Seedship Agrarian for mana and create a Lander token. You can use that mana as part of the artifact's sacrifice, put the land on the battlefield, and grow the Insect Scientist!
- Faller's Faithful + Timeline Culler / Virus Beetle / Beamsaw Prospector = Faller's Faithful appears to be designed to finish off a creature that has already taken damage. However, it can sometimes be useful to use it on one of your low-value pieces, thus drawing two additional cards!
Boros: Space Stations
Cards:
Starport Security, Full Bore, Squire's Lightblade, Focus Fire, Thaumaton Torpedo, , Pulsar Squadron Ace, Starfighter Pilot, Chrome Companion, Invasive Maneuvers, Drill Too Deep, Wurmwall Sweeper, Molecular Modifier, Frontline War-Rager, Flight-Deck Coordinator, Systems Override, Memorial Team Leader, Knight Luminary, Luxknight Breacher, Wedgelight Rammer, Vaultguard Trooper, Auxiliary Boosters, Debris Field Crusher, Dawnstrike Vanguard, Rescue Skiff, Galvanizing Sawship.
Description:
White-red is a go-wide aggro deck that relies on Spacecraft and having at least two creatures tapped at the end of your turn. To do this, of course, you just need to be aggressive and attack if you think your creatures will survive, but you can also take advantage of Spacecraft's Station mechanic so you can quickly reach the threshold to animate artifacts while still having your creatures tapped.
Sami, Ship's Engineer checks just this at the end of your turn, rewarding you with a 2/2 Robot token that can then be used to Station other Spacecraft and trigger further abilities.
Not surprisingly, the same token is also created when Wedgelight Rammer enters, while Vaultguard Trooper is an additional payoff for keeping creatures tapped, rewarding you with additional cards to never run out of plays!
Combo:
- Zookeeper Mechan / Kavaron Turbodrone / Slagdrill Scrapper + Sami, Ship's Engineer / Dawnstrike Vanguard = In order to have two creatures tapped at the end of your turn, you can't always attack, and you don't always control a Spacecraft. Having creatures with tap abilities like Zookeeper Mechan or Kavaron Turbodrone elegantly overcomes this problem!
- Honored Knight-Captain + Auxiliary Boosters / Squire's Lightblade = Auxiliary Boosters is the best you can tutor on the battlefield at the commons and uncommons level, spending only one mana more than its normal cost, and you can do it at instant speed, putting a 3/4 as a surprise blocker. However, you can also use Honored Knight-Captain offensively, taking one of the equipment it self-attaches, like Squire's Lightblade, Meltstrider's Gear, and Illvoi Light Jammer, and using it as a truly overcosted trick on opposing blockers!
- Melded Moxite + Bygone Colossus + Rescue Skiff = In the early game with Melded Moxite, you can cycle out Bygone Colossus or any other overcosted creature you can't cast yet. Then, once you're in the late game, you can drag it back onto the battlefield with Rescue Skiff and overwhelm your opponent with the resulting value!
Simic: Ramp
Cards:
Edge Rover, Sami's Curiosity, Eumidian Terrabotanist, Broodguard Elite, Seedship Impact, Divert Disaster, Codecracker Hound, Galactic Wayfarer, Larval Scoutlander, Dauntless Scrapbot, All-Fates Scroll, Survey Mechan, Seedship Agrarian, Icecave Crasher, Harmonious Grovestrider, Germinating Wurm, Starbreach Whale, Eusocial Engineering, Lashwhip Predator, Mechanozoa, Specimen Freighter, Glacier Godmaw, Fungal Colossus, Mouth of the Storm, Pinnacle Kill-Ship.
Description:
Blue-green is a ramp deck that uses Lander tokens to accelerate mana and possibly even add different lands to the battlefield, thus favoring the splash of additional colors and payoffs that check lands with different names.
Biomechan Engineer creates a Lander token that can be sacrificed on turn 3 to ramp up the 5-mana drop the following turn. Then, once in the late game and with the necessary mana, it draws cards and builds boards, outvaluing every opponent!
All-Fates Scroll, Survey Mechan, and Fungal Colossus are the payoffs for having different lands and therefore a manabase that can even ramp towards 3 or more colors!
Combo:
- Tractor Beam + Nanoform Sentinel = The enchantment steals an opponent's piece but leaves it tapped. By tapping Nanoform Sentinel for a Spacecraft or Gene Pollinator, you can untap it each turn and use that permanent to attack or block. You can also untap it at instant speed using Biosynthic Burst, eating an enemy attacker!
- Illvoi Infiltrator + Atomic Microsizer / Blooming Stinger / Broodguard Elite = Illvoi Infiltrator has a built-in combo because it can make itself unblockable with a double spell. However, sometimes it might be worthwhile to make it permanently unblockable with Atomic Microsizer or simply hard to block with deathtouch or big stats!
- Tapestry Warden + Meltstrider's Resolve = By combining these two, in addition to successfully fighting a creature with toughness up to 3, you effectively get a 6/6 vigilance that can only be blocked by one creature! Vigilance is also relevant because, in your second main phase, you can use Tapestry Warden to Station a Spacecraft, adding 6 charge counters!
That's all for today! This was my guide to the archetypes of Edge of Eternities, a unique set that takes us on a journey into the mysteries of outer space for the first time in Magic: The Gathering. What are you waiting for? Don your spacesuit, pilot your spacecraft, and travel to new planets by warping spacetime!
